Immaculate Kisembo | Community Engagement and Ecological Citizenship | 9th Jan, 2026
The Laudato Si’ Club at Holy Cross Lake View Senior Secondary School stands as a living response to Pope Francis’ call in Laudato Si’ to care for our common home. Rooted in Holy Cross education and inspired by Catholic Social Teaching, the club seeks to form young people who are committed to ecological citizenship, community care, and service to the world. Through education, unity, action, and reflection, the club embodies the Church’s vision of integral ecology—where care for creation, concern for the poor, service to others and the dignity of the human person are inseparably linked.
Community engagement is central to Holy Cross education. Learning is not confined to classrooms but unfolds within relationships and lived experiences. The Laudato Si’ Club draws deeply from the African philosophy of Ubuntu, the relational understanding of identity expressed in the belief “I am because we are.” This worldview shapes the club’s mission, reminding students that their lives, choices, and actions are interconnected with their community, the land, and future generations.
Guided by Laudato Si’, Catholic Social Teaching, and the Laudato Youth Initiative, the club promotes education for ecological citizenship and community care. Students are formed to see creation as a gift entrusted to humanity, calling for responsible stewardship rather than exploitation. This formation emphasizes shared responsibility—students, teachers, families, and the wider community working together to safeguard land, water, biodiversity, and human life.
At Holy Cross Lake View SSS, communal formation is a defining feature of the Laudato Si’ Club. Through regular meetings, prayer, reflection, and service projects, students grow together in awareness, faith, and commitment. The club fosters both confirmation and transformation—confirming Gospel values already present in the school community while transforming attitudes and behaviors that harm people or the environment.
Formation for service in the world is central to the club’s mission. Inspired by Catholic Social Teaching principles such as the common good, solidarity, subsidiarity, and care for the poor, students engage in activities that promote social transformation. These include environmental conservation initiatives, tree planting, waste management and recycling, school and community clean-up campaigns, and awareness programs on sustainable living. Through these actions, students learn that safeguarding the gift of land and nature is inseparable from promoting human dignity and peace.
The Laudato Si’ Club also affirms that our lives are the primary curriculum for ecological citizenship. Students are encouraged to witness to simplicity, respect for life, and responsible consumption in their daily choices. In doing so, they become credible agents of change, showing that ecological conversion begins with personal commitment and grows through communal action.
A key strength of the club is its effort to integrate the values of Laudato Si’ across all school disciplines. Science lessons explore environmental sustainability; social studies examine justice and development; religious education reflects on creation theology and moral responsibility; and the arts foster creativity and appreciation for nature. In this way, the entire school becomes a learning space for integral ecology.
Holy Cross Lake View SSS serves as a hub of engagement, where students ask critical questions: What are we doing in our school to care for our common home? How are we engaging our local community in this mission? Through partnerships, outreach, and advocacy, the Laudato Si’ Club extends its impact beyond the school, fostering collaboration and collective responsibility.
The work of the Laudato Si’ Club at Holy Cross Lake View SSS is a concrete expression of Laudato Si’ education for ecological citizenship and community care. Grounded in Holy Cross values, enriched by Ubuntu, and guided by Church teachings, the club forms young people committed to peacebuilding, service, dignity, and the protection of creation. In doing so, it offers hope for a future marked by justice, sustainability, and faithful stewardship of God’s gift of creation.
